What Types Of Accidents Can Lead To Personal Injury Claims?

– Client Reviews

You’ve probably heard that you can get compensation after an accident. While that can be true, there’s a lot more to a personal injury claim than that. We at Gordon & Partners explain what these cases are, how they work and what types of accidents can lead to valid personal injury claims.

What Is a Personal Injury Claim?

Personal injury claims are a type of civil case allowing people injured in accidents to obtain compensation for their damages. Not every accident or situation qualifies for a personal injury claim, however. In most cases, someone else must cause your injury due to negligence.

If an accident doesn’t injure you and cause certain damages, you can’t file a personal injury claim. Each state has laws that govern these claims, specifying who can seek compensation, how much they can receive, deadlines for filing and other requirements. Contact Gordon & Partners to request a free case evaluation to see if you have a valid claim and how we can help.

Compensation

While some of these cases go to court, many personal injury claims are settled through negotiations. Most involve insurance companies that are liable to make monetary awards for their policyholder’s actions.

Although accepting insurance premium payments obligates insurers to pay valid claims, insurance companies often use various strategies to minimize payouts and add to their own bottom lines. Many people turn to personal injury attorneys for assistance in resolving these claims.

What Is Negligence?

In legal terms, negligence means that someone’s actions or inactions are different than what a reasonable person would do in the same situation. The term “duty of care” refers to an obligation to behave in a safe manner to avoid harming others.

In personal injury claims, your attorney needs to prove negligence to hold at-fault parties liable for your compensation. To prove negligence, each of these statements has to be true:

• Someone owed you a duty of care.
• That party breached their duty of care.
• The breach injured you.
• The injuries and damages you sustained were a direct result of the breach.

Just saying that someone else caused your accident isn’t enough; you must have evidence to support your claim. Your personal injury lawyer may need to investigate your accident thoroughly to gather this proof and build a solid case.

What Types of Accidents Can Lead to Personal Injury Claims?

Various kinds of accidents happen every day, and it’s impossible to anticipate every scenario that might qualify for a personal injury claim. However, there are several common types of claims we will discuss.

Car Accidents

There are approximately 6 million car accidents annually in the U.S. These collisions often produce injuries that need medical treatment. Serious injuries can affect your quality of life.

Truck Accidents

Accidents involving large trucks may cause more severe injuries than car crashes due to the significant difference in weights and sizes of the vehicles. Truck accident claims are typically more complex due to higher potential compensation amounts and the possibility of multiple parties being responsible for the truck.

Slip-and-Fall Accidents

This type of premises liability claim can be tricky. To qualify, they must happen on someone else’s property. First, you need to prove that a property owner, manager or other responsible party knew or should have known about a hazardous condition. Next, you must show that the responsible party had enough time to fix the problem or limit access and place warnings about the danger.

Common examples of slip-and-fall accidents include:

• Slipping on a slippery floor in a store due to an unaddressed spill
• Tripping over loose flooring or rugs in stores or broken chunks of pavement in parking lots
• Falling down stairs because of loose or non-existent handrails
• Being unable to see potential dangers due to poor lighting
• Tripping over loose cords or other objects left in walkways

Slip-and-fall accidents can produce serious injuries, and you deserve compensation if they happen due to someone else’s negligence.

Medical Malpractice or Negligence

Healthcare professionals are held to a higher standard of care than most because they literally hold lives in their hands. Medical negligence or malpractice claims hold these parties responsible for errors that injure a patient or worsen an existing condition. Common examples include surgical or anesthesia errors, nursing home abuse or neglect, avoidable birth injuries and improperly diagnosing a medical condition.

Wrongful Death

If someone dies because of an accidental injury and they would have been eligible to file a personal injury claim had they lived, certain family members or other survivors may qualify to file a wrongful death claim. The proceeds can help with funeral expenses, medical bills and the loss of future support.

Defective Products

Product designers, manufacturers, fulfillment companies and retailers have obligations to sell safe products. Although some goods, such as saws and knives, are hazardous by nature, they shouldn’t cause an injury when used properly and as directed.

Construction or Workplace Accidents

Workplaces and construction sites can present many dangers that often lead to injury accidents. Employees may be able to receive worker’s compensation benefits, but there is also the potential for additional sources of compensation if third parties are involved.

Dog Bites

In Florida, strict liability laws make dog owners responsible for all damages their pets cause, although there are a few specific exceptions. This law applies regardless of whether the owner realized the dog was dangerous. Dog attacks can produce physical injuries, but they can also be traumatic experiences. Your legal team from Gordon & Partners will assess your case and tell you how much compensation you might receive.

Class Actions

In some cases, many people suffer injuries and other damages due to a single cause. Rather than filing individual claims, they can band together as a group and file a class action suit against the responsible party. This strategy is common for injuries caused by defective medical devices and dangerous drugs.

Why Should You Hire an Attorney?

Each potential personal injury claim involves laws and exceptions to those laws. Investigating your accident and building a case requires legal knowledge and resources, particularly in complex cases. While you can handle your claim alone, your focus should be on recovering from your injuries and adjusting to their impacts on your life.

Hiring a competent attorney has multiple benefits. We can:

• Offer information and advice
• Perform accident-related administrative tasks
• Investigate your accident and gather evidence to support your claim
• Handle all communications with insurance companies on your behalf
• Negotiate a fair settlement or take your case to trial if needed

Gordon & Partners will evaluate your case for free, and we don’t get paid unless you do. There’s no risk to you, but you have a lot to gain.

Why Should You Choose Gordon & Partners?

Our firm has over 200 years of combined experience. Our 20 attorneys focus on personal injury claims, so we know how to win cases like yours. We will fight to protect your rights, and we won’t hesitate to take your case to trial if liable insurance companies refuse to cooperate.

Since 1993, Gordon & Partners has helped Florida’s injured obtain millions of dollars in compensation. We would like to help you, too. Contact us 24/7 by calling 855-722-2552, reaching out via live chat or by submitting our online case review request form.